Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Supreme Court’s decision on Monday didn’t rule on the legality of President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting mail-in ballots, but it “injects some unnecessary confusion into the process,” Minnesota secretary of state Steve Simon told PBS News.
Election Day is about 70 days away and Minnesota’s absentee voting, which includes by mail, begins Sept. 18. No election procedures have changed, so far, after the high court’s decision as litigation against the president’s order continues to play out in court.
Trump signed the order in March, which bars the U.S. Postal Service from delivering ballots to people who are not on federal lists of eligible voters and directs the Department of Homeland Security to create a list of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote.
Simon said there’s “serious doubt” whether there’s enough time to implement these kinds of changes ahead of the 2026 midterms.
“Keep in mind, they're talking about a whole new architecture here,” he told White House correspondent Liz Landers. “They're talking about some database that Department of Homeland Security is going to create with the help of states. But it's really sort of a black box. We don't know what's inside it. We don't know what their methodology is going to be.”
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The Supreme Court’s decision on Monday didn’t rule on the legality of President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting mail-in ballots, but it “injects some unnecessary confusion into the process,” Minnesota secretary of state Steve Simon told PBS News.
Election Day is about 70 days away and Minnesota’s absentee voting, which includes by mail, begins Sept. 18. No election procedures have changed, so far, after the high court’s decision as litigation against the president’s order continues to play out in court.
Trump signed the order in March, which bars the U.S. Postal Service from delivering ballots to people who are not on federal lists of eligible voters and directs the Department of Homeland Security to create a list of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote.
Simon said there’s “serious doubt” whether there’s enough time to implement these kinds of changes ahead of the 2026 midterms.
“Keep in mind, they're talking about a whole new architecture here,” he told White House correspondent Liz Landers. “They're talking about some database that Department of Homeland Security is going to create with the help of states. But it's really sort of a black box. We don't know what's inside it. We don't know what their methodology is going to be.”
Watch PBS News for daily, breaking and live news, plus special coverage. We are home to PBS News Hour, ranked the most credible and objective TV news show.
Sign up for Here's The Deal with Lisa Desjardins: to.pbs.org/41q6E8i
Subscribe for exclusive content in our newsletters: pbs.org/newshour/subscribe
PBS News podcasts: pbs.org/newshour/podcasts
Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG
Find more from PBS News at pbs.org/newshour
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: bit.ly/2HfsCD6
Follow us:
TikTok: tiktok.com/@pbsnews
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